ObjectiveTo overview the systematic reviews on the timing of different surgical interventions for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were searched for systematic reviews about the timing of different surgical interventions for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients from inception to December, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, evaluated the reporting and methodological qualities using the PRISMA checklist and the AMSTAR tool. After re-extraction of individual RCT data from included systematic reviews, meta-analysis was performed by Stata10.0 software.ResultsA total of 11 systematic reviews were included. The average methodological quality score was 8.13 in AMSTAR , the reporting quality score was from 19.5 to 25 in PRISMA. Re-performed meta-analysis showed that, the total success rate of operation was 93.3% (95%CI 92.9 to 93.8), the failure rate was 3.7% (95%CI 3.3 to 4.0), the mortality rate was 2.0% (95%CI 1.8 to 2.2), and the loss rate was 1.0% (95%CI 0.8 to 1.2). The cure rates of different surgical methods were all over 80%, among which single lobectomy (98.47%) and compound lobectomy (98.94%) had the higher cure rates than others. For the time of different surgical interventions, cure rate could be improved obviously in patients receiving surgery treatment after 1 months (OR=1.58, 95%CI 1.29 to 1.94, P=0.000 12), 1-8months (OR=1.66, 95%CI 1.30 to 2.12, P=0.000 05) and 9-24 months (OR=1.48, 95%CI 1.15 to 1.90, P=0.002) of anti-tuberculosis therapy compared with 0 month.There were significant differences between two groups.ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that operation is an effective way for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis. Operative opportunity should be selected after 1-24 months of anti-tuberculosis drug treatment when the operation time depending on whether the tuberculosis has turned negative or not. Operative mode should be decided by the location and the scope of the lesion, which ensures the maximum excision of lesions and retention of lung function.
The current issue of air pollution has pushed the development of the corresponding observational air pollution studies. The World Health Organization has developed a new risk of bias (RoB) assessment instrument and a related guideline for assessing the risk of potential bias in observational air pollution studies. This study introduced the background, methods, uses, advantages and disadvantages, precautions, and usage scenarios of the RoB instrument. It is expected to provide researchers with corresponding quality evaluation tools when writing related systematic review and meta-analysis, which will also help provide reporting standards for observational air pollution studies, thereby improving the quality of studies.
Objectives To assess the effects of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Method We searched The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Contents, LILACS, databases of ongoing trials, reference lists of reviews on the topic of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and we contacted experts and manufacturers for additional trials. Date of most recent search: December 2003 (Current Contents) and April 2003 (other databases). Randomised controlled trials of at least 12 weeks duration comparing alpha-glucosidase inhibitor monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes with any other intervention and that included at least one of the following outcomes: mortality, morbidity, quality of life, glycemic control, lipids, insulin levels, body weight, adverse events. Two reviewers read all abstracts, assessed quality and extracted data independently. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus or by the judgement of a third reviewer. A statistician checked all extracted data entrance in the database. We attempted to contact all authors for data clarification. Results We included 41 trials (8130 participants), 30 investigated acarbose, seven miglitol, one trial voglibose and three trials compared different alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Study duration was 24 weeks in most cases and only two studies lasted amply longer than one year. We found only few data on mortality, morbidity and quality of life. Acarbose had a clear effect on glycemic control compared to placebo: glycated haemoglobin –0.77% (95% confidence interval –0.90 to –0.64), fasting blood glucose –1.1 mmol/L (95% confidence interval –1.4 to –0.9), post-load blood glucose –2.32 mmol/L (95% confidence interval –2.73 to –1.92). The effect on glycated haemoglobin by acarbose was not dose-dependent. We found a decreasing effect on post-load insulin and no clinically relevant effects on lipids or body weight. Adverse effects were mostly of gastro-intestinal origin and dose dependent. Compared to sulphonylurea, acarbose decreased fasting and post-load insulin levels by –24.8 pmol/L (95% confidence interval –43.3 to –6.3) and –133.2 pmol/L (95% confidence interval –184.5 to –81.8) respectively and acarbose caused more adverse effects. Conclusions It remains unclear whether alpha-glucosidase inhibitors influence mortality or morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Conversely, they have a significant effect on glycemic control and insulin levels, but no statistically significant effect on lipids and body weight. These effects are less sure when alpha-glucosidase inhibitors are used for a longer duration. Acarbose dosages higher than 50 mg TID offer no additional effect on glycated haemoglobin but more adverse effects instead. Compared to sulphonylurea, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors lower fasting and post-load insulin levels and have an inferior profile regarding glycemic control and adverse effects.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the quality of evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) on medication therapy for neonatal bacterial meningitis, and compare differences and similarities of the drugs recommended, in order to provide references for clinical application. MethodsDatabases such as the TRIP, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, WanFang, CBM, National Guideline Clearinghouse and Guidelines International Network were searched to collect evidence-based guidelines on medication therapy for neonatal bacterial meningitis. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed according to the AGREE Ⅱ instrument, and the differences and similarities among recommendations were compared. ResultsA total of 4 EBGs were included. Among them, one guideline was developed by the America and three guidelines were by the UK. Only one guideline was developed specially for neonates, while the rest were for neonates and children of different ages. According to the AGREE Ⅱ instrument, "scope and purpose", "stakeholder involvement", "rigor of development", "clarity and presentation", "applicability" and "editorial independence" were scored more than 60%. The recommendations of different guidelines were basically the same, only with conflicts in some areas. ConclusionAlthough most guidelines concerning neonatal bacterial meningitis are of high quality, grading levels of evidence and strength of recommendation should be unified.
A mean of systematic review of diagnostic tests based on The Bayes Library of Diagnostic Studies and Reviews (2nd edition 2002) and Bayes Library are introduced to Chinese readers who are interesting on diagnostic test and screening systematic review.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of flibanserin for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women. MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library (Issue 7, 2014), CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data from their inception to August 2014, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness and safety of flibanserin for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. And then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 4 RCTs involving 3 881 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:compared with the placebo group, the flibanserin group was superior in increasing the number of satisfying sexual events (SSE) (MD=0.72, 95%CI 0.51 to 0.92, P<0.000 01), improving the eDiary desire score (MD=2.21, 95%CI 1.45 to 2.97, P<0.000 01), FSFI domain score (MD=0.29, 95%CI 0.24 to 0.35, P<0.01) and FSFI total score (MD=1.82, 95%CI 1.47 to 2.17, P<0.000 01), and decreasing the FSDS-R item 13 score (MD=-0.24, 95%CI -0.31 to -0.17, P<0.000 01) and FSDS-R total score (MD=-2.70, 95%CI -3.43 to -1.96, P<0.000 01). However, the incidence of adverse events in the flibanserin group was higher than that of the placebo group (OR=1.31, 95%CI 1.11 to 1.54, P=0.001). ConclusionThe current evidence suggests that, in premenopausal women with HSDD, flibanserin treatment is effective but may increase the incidence of adverse events.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the prognostic value of plasma soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) level in predicting 28-day mortality in sepsis.MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to collect studies about the prognostic value of plasma sTREM-1 in early 28-day mortality in sepsis from inception to April 16th, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 14.0 software.ResultsA total of 13 studies involving 1 115 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity were 79% and 77%, respectively. The positive likelihood ratio and the negative likelihood ratio were 3.4 and 0.28, respectively. The diagnostic ratio was 12. The overall area under the summary receiver operator characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.80.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that plasma sTREM-1, as a single index, may play a prognostic role in the early 28-day mortality of sepsis in patients. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
Due to the complexity of etiology and a lot of complication of diabetes mllitus, the reliable conclusion of studies of etiology and treatment of diabtets mellitus should rely on randomized controlled trial and systematic review. Alongside the development of meta-analysis, systematic reviewes have provided many beneficial information, including gene mutation and diabetes mellitus, evaluation of risk factors, diagnostic test and treatment of diabets mellitus.
Objectives To describe the mechanism of means testing used in health programs for targeting poor population and to describe how the authors have assessed effects of means testing approaches where applicable. Method We searched 24 electronic resources which included evidence-based, health, economic and social databases, 7 international institution websites, grey literature review resources and Google. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers separately, and the differences were discussed by the third person or a review group. We systematically analyzed the included studied by theme analysis method from different dimensions. We also described the evaluation outcomes by the authors. Result A total of 10244 records were searched, and 58 studies were included after screening by title, abstract and full texts. A total of 13 studies described verified means testing (VMT) conducted as a targeting method in the US; simple testing method (SMT) was conducted in 16 countries; 26 studies described how proxy means testing (PMT) was used in 14 countries; andmixed means testing (MA) was conducted in 14 countries. Means testing as a targeting method was widely used in four health programs which included health insurance, cash transfer, provision of free health service and fee structure. The target population was poor. Only few studies analyzed the outcomes of means testing; 3 studies analyzed under-coverage and 11studies analyzed leakage as their indicators. Scare cost information could be obtained from the included studies. Conclusion Means testing is widely used in various health programs for targeting the eligible population in distributing benefits, especially in developing countries. Targeting as a means for allocating health resources is particularly important in LMICs for their constraints in budgets available for health. Meanwhile, a universal coverage strategy has become a worldwide issue, and how current health resources can be used equitably and efficiently is a concern from the policy practice. Means testing, as one of the tools in targeting eligible population, would help in this process.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the association between eNOS gene a/b polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy susceptibility. MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 5, 2015), CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were systemically searched from inception to May 2015, to collect case-control studies about the eNOS a/b polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy susceptibility. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 16 case-control studies were included, which involved 3 232 diabetic retinopathy cases and 3 555 controls. The results of meta-analysis showed that, in the total analysis, the a/b polymorphism of the eNOS gene was not associated with diabetic retinopathy risk (dominant model:OR=0.94, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.15, P=0.57; recessive model:OR=0.97, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.22, P=0.88; aa vs. bb:OR=0.89, 95%CI 0.71 to 1.12, P=0.32; ab vs. bb:OR=0. 94, 95%CI 0.77 to 1.14, P=0.52; a vs. b:OR=0.97, 95%CI 0.82 to 1.14, P=0.70); In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, the a/b polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of diabetic retinopathy in Africans, but not in Asians and Caucasians. ConclusionThe a/b polymorphism in the eNOS gene may be a risk factor of diabetic retinopathy in Africans.